Which Lens?

[jonrayner]

I have a Canon 400D with the standard 18-55mm lens kit. I am looking at purchasing some extra lens (a wide angle lens, a telephotos lens, maybe a replacement for the standard lens). There are so many out there, that I am not getting any closer to a purchase. My obvious choice would be to go for Canon IS USM lens (I don't think I can afford the L series lens), but cost is a factor. There are other makes such as Sigma & Tamron which may be in my price range. My main questions are:

1. Are there any prferences over make of lens, Canon, Sigma &
Tamron?

2. Are there any other makes that people would consider?

3. If you went for a Canon, what features would you look for, eg IS, USM?

4. If you went for a Sigma lens, what features would you look for, eg APO?

5. If you went for a Tamron lens, what features would you look for?

6. Is secondhand an option?

7. Are there any specific lens' that anyone could recomend?

Many Thanks in advance

Jon

[Snappers]

Hi Jon,
I'm no expert on lenses, however, I have always been led to believe that if your camera is Cannon, then go for the Cannon lens if you can afford. I have the sigma lenes for my Camera (Nikon)

The Sigma lens are very good but perhaps not as good as the lenses made specific for the make of camera. If you can afford, a cannon lens, you are probably better going for that.

Second hand is always an option, but it goes without saying that you should be careful where you buy it from and make sure there is no damage to the lens that would affect the quality of the pic.

[gsrkarts]

Hey Jon...
Im only new to this site and i came on here to ask the exact same question. I also have a Canon 400D and am looking for a new lens other than the standard twin lens kit that came with it. L series would be good, but i cannot afford them. IS USM lens are what i am looking for. I will keep an eye out for threads here as i am interested in the answers to your questions that you have posted.
Graham

[Snappers]

Hi gsrkarts, Welcome to the forum. Feel free to join in and post away.

[jonrayner]

Hi gsrkarts, welcome to the forum, Are you starting the course?

It's good to know there someone else with the same quest as myself, I am not alone!!!
I have narrowed my search down (quality and price range being the key attributes, trying to get as best quality within my price range) to some of the Canon USM lenses (would like an IS lens if I can afford it) and some of the Sigma APO lenses.

Will have to see how we go!

[LensBaby]

I would help if I could but Lenses is something that I can say I know NOTHING about YET! hahah

[nikkirose]

I am only new and don't know that much about lenses and can only tell you what I have and find works for me. I use a Canon 20D and have recently purchased a 5D. I only buy Canon lenses as mentioned by someone else - they are the sharper ones than other brands, but I have a friend who uses Tamron lens on her Canon and she is quite content with it.

(All my lenses are EF series)The Canon telephoto 90-300mm I find fabulous (I would have liked to buy the 70-300mm IS USM but could not afford it at the time). Because my kit lens is 24-85mm I am only missing 5mm / but the pain is that I have to change lenses more often.

I love my 100mm macro prime lens, and also the 50mm macro prime lens. They both do justice to portrait shots as well. The prime lenses are sharper I believe.

My latest purchase was a 100-400mm IS USM telephoto. I really like the results I am getting but this is one big lens and I am still only learning how to use it properly - what I find most interesting is that when I have this lens on the amount of people who come over to me to discuss the lens is huge - and when I ask them can I take their photo they are more than willing to co-operate. Wonder why that is?

I am saving up for a wide ange lens and will be purchasing the 16-35mm, but we are talking serious dollars so it will be another long while before I can buy it. Also I need to finish my course at ProudPhotography and learn how to photograph properly first.

I know Canon has a printed book with all their lenses pictured and with an accompanying photo to show you their effect and all the details listed - when I bought my 100-400mm the shop keeper let me read all about this lens before I purchased it, I just looked to see if I had the name of the book, but sorry I can't find it - it was something like "The Complete Book of Lenses" and it is only on Canon Lenses. Maybe your retail outlet knows about it or has a copy for you to read.
Nikkirose

[jerryph]

The prime lenses are sharper I believe.

In the olden days, this may have been true, but its not that true now-a-days. If you invest in good high quality glass (Canon "L" or EF glass), that quality level zooms are indestinguishable from primes.

In another forum someone did a test and challenged people to to tell which was the prime and which was the zoom. Of course it was impossible to tell without cheating (looking at the EXIF data).

I can also give you an example of where 3rd party lenses are sharper than the OEM counterparts.

In the 18-(55 to 70) class, Tamron, Sigma and Nikkor (Nikon) all have lenses in this division. Nikkor is the most expensive at $1500, but the $500 Sigma HSM beats them all in sharpness and throws in macro for free. The Tamron is also very sharp and just a little less than the Nikkor.

Tests were done by several different photography magazines and the results always came out the same... 1 - Sigma, 2 - Nikkor and 3 - Tamron.

There are times to buy primes (the nifty 50 for example), and there are times to buy zooms... just like there are times to by original matching brand name lenses and times not to.

It is lens dependant.

[nikkirose]

Good to know, thanks. I had not thought to go outside using Canon lenses. Anyhow that book I was speaking about is called "EF Lens Work 111 - The Eyes of EOS". It was published by Canon, and any retailer that sells Canon lenses should have a file copy for you to read. It is a hard cover book with 247 pages of very useful information, and photos and explanations of every EF and EFS lenses that canon has produced. Not sure if you can buy it, but my retailer let me loan it for a week after purchasing my long lens.
cheers, Nikkirose

[jerryph]

Oh, for a very nice wide angle lens, I would suggest you take a glance at the Sigma 10-20mm. Its not a fast lens, so its not fantastic in low light without a tripod, but the pictures it takes are stunning.